


Mind You Always

by nightmoonz



Category: Octopath Traveler (Video Game)
Genre: Bittersweet, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-01
Updated: 2019-08-01
Packaged: 2020-07-28 15:08:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20066035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightmoonz/pseuds/nightmoonz
Summary: Ogen finally comes home to Northreach to visit his Melyssa...





	Mind You Always

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rubylily](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rubylily/gifts).

> Hi rubylily,
> 
> I love Ogen and I really liked your prompt about Ogen potentially staying home at Northreach, this is my take on that and gosh I hope you like it ♡

It had been a long time since Ogen had been back to the icy city of Northreach. A place that seemed to produce more problems than solutions, a place once overrun by bandits, a place he had once called home. 

_ Home… _

First, he had to say hi to Mel.

However, he was still recovering from that wretched disease that kid treated him for, so it was perhaps not the _ best _ idea. Despite himself he hoped the kid was alright, but Ogen was sure he’d be fine after all the kid—Alfyn?—had friends, something Ogen did not.

Ogen made his way to Mel, clutching a small bouquet of her favorite flower—Mind-Me-Always.

“It’s been a long time,” he said to himself as he crossed Northreach’s city gates. The first person he came across was a young man who couldn’t stop sighing.

“Oh Angela…”

Ogen wasn’t sure why he asked the young man if he was okay—perhaps it was because he was visiting Mel and feeling just a little more sentimental than usual.

“What’s the problem kid?”

The lilac haired man in the frilliest outfit Ogen had ever seen gave another lamenting sigh, “Oh! Hello good sir! Angela—my beloved—I wanted to prove to her that I was worthy of her love. So I entered a tourney in Victor’s Hollow but I was swiftly beaten by a man the size of an ox. I meant to bring back a trophy and instead I brought back nothing.”

Normally Ogen would have turned away or just wished him his best and told the kid he was overreacting.

“Look, kid what your name?”

“Joshua, Joshua Frostblade.”

“Right. Well, since you don’t have much, let me give you one of these.” Ogen plucked one of Melyssa’s Mind-Me-Always and gave it to Joshua.

“A flower?”

“Yep. It’s not a lot, but—”

“Oh this is plenty! Thank you, good sir! _ Flowers _. Why didn’t I think of it? Angela will love this! They’re her favorites too.”

Ogen froze, “They are huh?”

“Yes! Please take 100 leaf for it.”

“Er... Look, kid, that’s not necessary.”

“No, I insist! Thank you again!” Joshua said. He walked over to a young, blonde woman; she lit up when she received her singular stem of Mind-Me-Always, and the young man was practically vibrating with both excitement and relief. Ogen smiled faintly, thinking about how he was at Joshua’s age and how happy he had been when he saw Mel smile like that—she was now minus one flower but Ogen was sure she’d understand.

~~~

It had been a while since he’d walked through town, and while he heard that the bandits had left, he never expected the place would look as nice as it did. The snow seemed softer, the city seemed brighter.

“Ogen?”

Ogen turned around to see a woman he’d once known well; Diana had been Melyssa’s best friend before…

“Diana, it’s been a long time,” Ogen said as he gave the woman a ghost of a smile.

“Yeah, too long old man… it’s good to see you. Are you staying long?” Diana gazed at small bouquet in his hands, and her demeanor softened. “On your way to see her?”

“Yes…”

“Mind-Me-Always… she’d love them. Listen, Ogen, I’d stay and chat more, but you look like you’re itching to say hi to Mel and I...” Diana sighed. “I have a lot of kids to look after right now.”

“Oh? I didn’t realize you had children.”

Diana laughed lightly, but her eyes were sad. “No, not me. I’m looking after some of the kids in the area…”

“What’s wrong?”

“There’s a sickness spreading around these parts. It started out as nothing, a bunch of sore throats and the like, but it’s getting worse… ’N it’s not like there are any doctors around or an Apothecary.” Diana gave Ogen a pointed look which sent a pang through his heart. He really should have come back sooner.

“Bandits all ran them outta town, ya know? N’ all I have is Mel’s old recipes for common ailments and sore throats but it’s not enough… They need **real** medicine and I don’t have the supplies or knowledge to make them an elixir that’ll cure them proper. Anyway, I need to get back and tend to them as best as I can.” 

“Diana… show me the kids.” Ogen said with conviction. “Give me some credit. I might be a grumpy bastard, but I’m not about to leave sick children to die.”

Diana gave him a tired but grateful smile. “This way.”

~~~

Ogen took a look around the room and saw six kids all rasping for air and coughing. It wasn’t dissimilar from the situation from Orewell, but he didn’t think it was the same sickness. It looked bad, but he wasn’t sure how bad.

“What happened?”

“I dunno, they just got sick, one by one. We thought it was a bad cold, the flu even, but it seems so much worse than that. It happened at the worst time too—right after this young Apothecary left. He and his friends got rid of the bandits… We’re thinking that one of the thieves was sick and it must have spread. Ogen… can you do anything?”

“I think so. What are their full range of symptoms?”

“Well, sore throat for a start, fever, they’re very weak too. I’m not an expert but—their throats and necks look swollen, don’t they?”

Ogen inspected the kids’ necks and saw easily that Diana was spot on—these kids were in bad shape. It wasn’t what the kids in Orewell had suffered from—Ogen had seen an ailment similar to this before, and it was clear that if they didn’t get proper medicine quickly, they would not be long for this world. 

“They do, and if it is what I think it is then it’s a miracle all of them are still alive.”

Diana went pale, “Gods be good...”

“Are any of them strong enough to sit up?”

Diana nodded, and helped the strongest of the kids sit up so Ogen could examine them. Even though it was daytime, he still had to take a candle to look at the back of their throat. When he saw the tell-tale sheet of thick, gray material covering the back of their throat he knew it was exactly what he feared. Ogen thanked the kid for letting him examine them and took Diana aside.

“I know what they have and it’s not good Diana. Their bodies are producing a toxin that’s effectively shutting them down.”

“Is there nothing we can do?”

“I can make an antitoxin relatively easily enough, and as long as the toxin hasn’t spread to their blood stream there’s still hope. Do you have some room where I can work?”

Diana nodded and situated Ogen in her study. Ogen worked carefully, but as quickly as possible—according to Diana the kids had gotten sick about a week or so ago. Good. There was still time—maybe not a lot of it, but, perhaps, just enough…

It was hours before Ogen was finally able to administer the first dosage to the kids. Ogen hadn’t wanted to stay in Northreach, but he knew he was going to have to stay at least a week. There were no casualties so far amongst the children, and if he could help it stay that way he would, and he told Diana as much. She offered to pay him for his services, which he wasn’t too comfortable about, but he would possibly need the money to buy more supplies if nothing else. So he took enough from her to cover the supplies—that and the 100 leaf from Joshua was more than enough.

“Thank you Ogen.”

“You needn’t thank me, I’m going to be annoying you for at least a week. Gotta make sure the little ones are all right and all.”

“Well, thank you regardless. It’ll sure give their parents peace of mind as they wait for their children to get better--I can tell you that much.”

Ogen nodded, then grabbed his bag and the small bouquet for Mel. There was a lot he’d done wrong in his life, but he thought she would have been proud of him for this, which was probably why he took stems of the Mind-Me-Always and put them by each of the kids’ beds; that way, Mel could watch over them in his absence.

Ogen also handed one to Diana. “One for you too… Mel would’ve wanted—” Ogen paused a moment before continuing last thing he needed was to blubber like a baby. “Drink the serum if you start to cough—kids won’t get better if the person looking after them is sick too. The flower’s from Mel... she’ll look after you all.”

Ogen quickly took his leave.

~~~

When he stepped back out and breathed in the frigid air of Northreach, he saw the sun would be setting soon. Time to visit his departed beloved before the temperatures dropped to dangerous levels.

Each step he took crunched the snow beneath him; as he was about to enter the cemetery, a teen holding a dagger (which looked more like a glorified butter knife) walked out from the shadows. Even though the knife was pitiful, a chill ran down Ogen’s spine. What was this idiot doing?

“Give me your all your coin, Apothecary.”

“... Put that away kid. I don’t want the trouble and I don’t like hurting kids.”

“I said give me all of your Leaf, or I’ll—”

Ogen disarmed the kid and knocked him to the ground, “Not too bright, are ya, kid?”

“…”

“You know, if you had been a couple years older, I might have done more than just disarmed you, and if you had made a mistake and done this to one of the fleeing bandits here, you could have lost your life. So, why’d do it? Greed? Clinging to the old ways of this town?”

“…” The teen looked down and blinked back frustrated tears. “My sister is sick and so is my mother. We have no money for medicine so I...”

“So you thought _ stealing _was the best course of action?” Ogen gave the kid a long suffering sigh.“ Show me your mom and your sister. I’ll see what I can do to help.”

Ogen waited for the kid to say something. When he still didn’t talk, Ogen pressed him and mentioned his concern over the kids in town, and if this young idiot’s mother and sister had their affliction. That got the teen talking and he took Ogen to his home.

Ogen was relieved to see that they did not have the same sickness as the kids at Diana’s had. Simple colds with fevers—very treatable. Ogen made a couple of tinctures for them and then turned to the brat who tried to rob him.

“They’ll be alright.”

“… Thanks.”

“You’re welcome but you’re not off the hook yet. What you did was incredibly stupid.” The teen cringed under Ogen’s stern gaze. “And by your own admission you have no money to pay me back for the services and supplies rendered here, so here’s what you’re gonna do to pay me back. You’re gonna help me heal those kids in town and you’re going to learn at least five common treatments. I’m gonna leave you a book teaching you how to do more after I leave. I don’t plan on staying and since you guys got no one, you’ll be their Apothecary. You’re gonna learn the costs of supplies and factor in the labor of what is needed and, above all else, what to charge people. Honest and good work should be paid for, but don’t rob these folk blind. Remind yourself of the position you were in now and do unto others as I’ve done for you. Got it?”

The kid looked pale and mildly terrified, which made Ogen smirk.

“One last thing…” Ogen shoved 50 leaf at the kid along with two Mind-Me-Always.

The kid's eyes widened practically to the size of saucers. “What time and where should I meet you tomorrow?”

“The house eastward, all the way at the edge of town. Meet me at 8 in the morning. We’ll start work then.”

“Okay M-mister?”

“Ogen’s fine, lad. See you tomorrow; I’ve got somewhere else I gotta be.”

Ogen made his way out of the small house shaking his head. _ Finally _he could visit Mel.

~~~

Ogen walked into the cemetery as the sun was half-set, but Ogen didn’t mind.

“Hey, Mel…” Ogen kneeled down on one knee, he realized he’d given away all but one remaining Mind-Me-Always. He placed it gingerly atop Melyssa’s grave. “Sorry, I had more but there seemed like there were some folk here that needed the pick me up. I figured you’d yell at me if I didn’t give ‘em one each. I hope that’s alright.”

Ogen reached out, brushed his fingers against the small flower, and left them to rest on the rough granite stone. “So, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? Town looks better, still just as bleak as it always was this time of year, but it’s better. You know... I treated a bunch of sick folk—kids mostly. It’s kind of a mess, and I’ll have to stay at least a week to make sure them little ones are all right, and I’ve had to take an apprentice on which will be a huge pain in the rear. ”

Ogen paused a moment before tenderly murmuring, “Mel… I’ve actually been thinking about sticking around longer than that. If I’m the best thing they have to a doctor, I should, right? And I gotta teach that kid how to do some stuff because I won’t always be around… I promise I’ll visit more often—everyday if I can manage it. But, please know that anytime we're parted, I’m minding you always.”


End file.
